Hatchery: The Untold Story
by Lunabeegood
Summary: This is a Trip/T'Pol focused story where I fill in the edges of the story to make it more shipper friendly. They just stood a little too close and shared one too many knowing looks for there not to be anything going on.


**Author's Note: I just couldn't leave Hatchery alone…T'Pol and Trip just seem to stand a little too close in some of those scenes for nothing to be going on. Here's my take on what's going on around the edges of the episode.**

 **All characters belong to Paramount—I just play with them for fun. I make no money from this.**

It was a great movie tonight, a classic monster-of-the-week: Swamp Thing. The attendees spent most of the film laughing about the basic special effects and bad acting. It had proven to be more fun then the comedy he'd shown last week. After days in stasis while they cleared the nebula, it was nice to do something as a group again.

Trip was just pulling back the covers to his bed when he caught a whiff of T'Pol.

He looked at his bed in confusion and then leaned down and smelled the pillow he'd slept on each night. All he could smell was pillow, then he smelled the decorative pillow he'd just pushed to the side and got a distinct whiff of T'Pol.

"Strange," he mumbled.

He then did something he thought seemed a little insane; he smelled down the length of his bed from the pillow to the foot and couldn't help the smile that crept across his face. It smelled like her from top to bottom as if she'd just been there.

"You haven't been here," Trip mumbled to himself again.

He stood back from his bed and placed his hands on his hips staring down at his bed in confusion. Why would his bed and his pillow smell like her?

After a few moments he abandoned his train of thought and got into bed. That night, for the first time ever, he used the decorative pillow to sleep on. It was nice to smell T'Pol as he fell asleep.

xxxxxx

"Good morning T'Pol," Trip said as he sat down at the table opposite her with his eggs.

"Good morning, Commander," T'Pol nodded in his direction.

"I thought we agreed on Trip when we're not on duty," Trip smiled at her.

"Good morning…Trip," T'Pol said in return.

"There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Trip smiled at her.

"I don't know why you insist…"

"You and I both know why," Trip said as he leaned in.

She felt her body flush slightly. They'd had sexual relations on two separate occasions although she'd promised herself after the first time it wouldn't happen again. His reasoning was that if he could be intimate with her, she could at least call him by the name he preferred.

"The warp core is being shut down today for repairs?" She asked, changing the subject.

"It is," Trip said as he shoveled some eggs into his mouth.

T'Pol took a sip of her mint tea and enjoyed the silence; it didn't happen often when Trip was around.

"Funny thing last night," Trip said conversationally. "When I went to get into bed, my pillow and the blankets smelled like you."

"Strange," T'Pol said as she looked anywhere but at him.

"It is strange," Trip said as he smirked at her. "It was almost as if you'd just been there."

"That would be impossible," T'Pol noted.

"So then I got thinking this morning…"

T'Pol quirked an eyebrow.

"I was at movie night last night, and you…weren't," Trip said as he pressed his tongue into his cheek.

"I enjoy the quiet that movie night affords me," T'Pol said softly. "How long will the warp…?"

"So I accessed the data to my door and was surprised to find that my code was entered into the panel just as movie night was beginning," Trip interrupted her.

T'Pol quirked her eyebrow again.

"But I was at movie night, so that couldn't have been accurate," Trip said as he reached for his orange juice.

"Maybe there was a problem with…" T'Pol offered.

"And then I thought of your smell on my pillow and bed," Trip said as he leaned in conspiratorially. "And I realized that if I was a Vulcan who wanted to access someone's quarters without their knowing…"

"You are jumping to conclusions," T'Pol explained.

"I would choose movie night," Trip said with a smile as he looked directly into her eyes. "It would guarantee I'd be gone for a solid two hours, at least."

T'Pol just stared back at him.

Trip didn't break eye contact.

Finally, he was the one to break eye contact. He finished his eggs and collected his plate to leave. He placed his dishes in the collection cabinet and, instead of leaving immediately, veered back towards her seat. T'Pol knew he was behind her before he said anything.

"Next week, just stay," he whispered into her ear before he walked out of the mess hall.

XXXXX

Trip squirmed in his seat as The Godfather played on the screen in front of them. It was Travis' choice this week and it wasn't keeping his attention. The Captain was acting strangely and hadn't joined them for the film tonight; a rarity. But he'd been obsessed with the hatchery…

How could a movie, even a great one, keep his attention when there could be a beautiful Vulcan waiting for him in his bed? Trip looked at the chronometer on the wall. It was another 42 minutes before the film was complete.

"Fuck it," Trip said under his breath before he ducked out of his seat.

"Where are you going?" Travis asked him over his shoulder.

"Upset stomach," Trip said in a whisper before he shuffled quietly out of the room.

His feet couldn't carry him fast enough to his quarters, the turbolift was too slow, and the hallways much too long.

"Commander Tucker," Rostov said, catching him only 7 metres before he reached his door.

"Rostov?" Tucker asked impatiently as he kept walking past him.

"I wanted to show you the results of…"

"Anything abnormal?" Trip asked, slightly annoyed.

"Uh, no," Rostov stammered.

"Then tell me tomorrow," Trip said as he reached for the access panel to his room.

"Commander?" Rostov asked, confused.

Trip placed a hand over his abdomen. "Upset stomach."

"Ahhh," Rostov nodded before he turned to leave.

Trip entered his code and walked into his quarters. He looked to his desk and the bed, she was nowhere to be found.

"Fuck," he swore under his breath, he knew it was too much to hope for.

"Commander?" T'Pol asked as she looked out the washroom door.

"Oh thank god," Trip said as he looked toward her.

"Why are you thanking a religious entity?" T'Pol asked with a quirked eyebrow as she placed the towel she was using to dry her hands back on the towel rack.

"No reason," Trip said as he smiled at her. "I'm just glad you took my suggestion."

She stepped out of his washroom and stood before him. "The movie is still supposed to be running. Was there a malfunction?"

"No, I, uh, decided to leave a little early," Trip admitted as he placed his hands on her hips.

"I don't believe you've ever left a movie night early," T'Pol noted.

"How long have you been coming to my room and laying in my bed while I watched movies?" Trip asked.

"I have visited your room occasionally over the last two months," T'Pol admitted.

"Two months?!" Trip asked shocked.

"I haven't always…laid in your bed." T'Pol admitted.

"So you just wandered around?" Trip asked.

"I sat at your desk," T'Pol explained. "I started coming for just a short period of time and then expanded my visits. Are you angry?"

"No, no, I'm not angry at all," Trip said as he leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. "I'm just wondering why."

T'Pol looked down and sighed.

"T'Pol?" Trip asked.

"I missed you," T'Pol admitted.

"You said…"

"I know what I said," she started to pull back, but his grip on her hips prevented further movement.

"Can we not try and stop this anymore?" Trip asked as he kissed her forehead. "We work."

"Okay," she whispered.

"Okay?" He clarified.

"Okay," she whispered as she craned her neck and kissed the underside of his jaw.


End file.
